Of Christmas, Cousins and Special Cuddles
by padfoot's prose
Summary: It's just another normal Christmas for the Weasley/Potter clan, right? Wrong! As soon Victoire Weasley gets over her haven't-seen-Teddy-Lupin-since-kissing-him-before-I-left-for-Hogwarts nerves, this Christmas is going to turn out to be exceptional. VW/TL
1. Christmas

**Originally, I wrote this as a oneshot, but when it reached the 3000 word mark, I decided that, just perhaps, it was a bit too long. So, it has now been split into a threeshot (if that's even a word).**

**This is my first attempt at Teddy/Victoire, but I actually kinda love it, so I hope you do too!**

**Also, this was written for _slytherinprincess02'_s New Year Challenge, in which I had to write a story including a New Year's Resolution. This story does, in fact, fulfil that criteria. The resolution is in chapter 3. Thanks heaps to slytherineprincess for the challenge!**

**I'm writing again, and you have absolutely no idea how great that feels to write!**

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Heart thumping? Check. Palms sweating? Check. Sudden desire to chew nails? Check.

Victoire Weasley was anxious.

Fretfully, she checked her hair again in the bathroom mirror, pulling it back off her face and over her shoulder so the silvery strands cascaded down her neck, settling over her chest. She ran her fingers through it, trying to make it sit just right, in a way that didn't make it looked like she'd been labouring over it for the past fifteen minutes. Why was it that at times like this her hair decided to be at its most difficult? It was always too frizzy or too limp, never able to stay in that lovely in-between stage that it seemed to be in at all unimportant times.

With a huff, she gave up on that particular style, flicking her head to make her hair fall back into its usual place, spreading elegantly over her shoulders and down her back. Better, she thought, more casual-looking. Still... it needed something.

"Dom?"

Even to Victoire, her own voice sounded nervous, and she had to consciously force herself to pull her hand back as her fingers snuck towards her mouth. _I'm not biting my nails today_, she silently informed herself,_ not after having spent so long on this polish_.

The light pink polish had taken over an hour to carefully apply, even with Dominique doing Victoire's right hand for her, and the entire process had very almost been undone when Louis burst into her bedroom, demanding someone to help with his Charms homework and knocking over the tiny bottle of polish in the process. Thankfully, they'd just finished, but that hadn't stopped the girls crying for their brother to leave the room immediately or risk getting cursed so badly he'd be stuck in St Mungo's for the rest of holidays.

"You called?"

Victoire sighed in relief as her sister's face appeared in the mirror, peering in the door. She was already dressed and ready for the day, wearing a light green dress and with her reddish-blonde hair pulled back into a neat French-braid that fell almost to the small of her back.

"You look nice," Dominique said as she entered the room, half-closing the door behind her. "But there's something wrong."

"I know!" Victoire's anguished response made her sister bite her lip to hold back a smile as Dominique grabbed her hands, making her turn and meet her in the eyes. "It's something about my hair. I just can't make it sit properly, it keeps-"

Dominique shook her head, no longer bothering to hide her smile. "No, Vic, your hair looks fine. You know what I think is wrong?" She let a moment of silence pass, enjoying her sister's unusually nervous state. "You need to _relax_."

Victoire laughed, a somewhat strained sound that slowly transformed into a proper laugh as her sister released her hands and smacked her lightly on the arm.

"Seriously, loosen up, there's absolutely no reason for you to get all nervous and tense. It's just a family Christmas Party. We have these gatherings every year, remember?"

"I know," Victoire answered, glancing in the mirror again. "I'm just... anxious. I mean, it's different this time. I haven't seen or spoken to him since September."

Dominique rolled her eyes, grabbing her sister's hand again and pulling her out of the bathroom and into the narrow upstairs hallway of Shell Cottage.

"Oh, come _on_. You don't need to be worried about Teddy. He's been lusting after you for years, ever since- hey!"

This time it was Victoire's turn to hit Dominique on the shoulder, making her break off with a cry as she tried to dodge the blow.

"He had not been _lusting _after me!"

Dominique was still laughing as she ran ahead down that stairs, knocking a picture on the wall as she hurried past so it swung wildly, settling at an angle just as Victoire reached it. Taking her time to adjust the frame back to perfect straightness, Victoire tried to ignore the feeling of butterflies in her stomach as the ring of the doorbell echoed through the house, immediately followed by the sound of Louis and Dom running to answer the door, eager to see their cousins again after the week-long reprise of the Christmas holidays.

"Mum, Dad!" Louis's voice called. "Hugo and Rose are here!"

"Is Ron with them?" Bill's voice yelled back. "Because if that little git thinks he's dumping his kids on my doorstep-"

There was a general cry of mock-outrage at Bill's comment as he came out of the kitchen to greet his brother, sister-in-law and niece and nephew, accompanied of course by the usual sentiments of "Merry Christmas!", "Happy New Year!" and "Wow, you're getting taller every time I see you!"

Victoire hovered on the staircase as coats and scarves were discarded and the conversation picked up. From her position she was able to see into the living room, where Bill promptly came into view, leading Ron and Hermione to the Christmas tree so they could deposit their small collection of presents. Once her arms were empty, Hermione turned to give Bill a hug, bending down to hug Dominique and Louis too as Ron greeted Fleur, who had emerged from the kitchen with a platter of small pastries which she placed on the coffee table before straightening to join in with the welcomes.

"Where's Victoire?" Rose asked Dominique quietly as they, Hugo and Louis edged out of the living room, no doubt heading outside to engage in an inevitably-messy snowball fight before their parents had the chance to stop them.

"Oh, she's..." Dom glanced at her sister who had shrunk back up the stairs a little to keep out of sight of the adults. "She's still getting ready, I think. You know how old people take so much longer to get dressed and stuff."

Rose giggled in agreement, not pursuing the subject any further as Hugo and Louis pushed past, racing each other to the back door.

Sighing in relief, Victoire sat on the stairs, being careful to smooth her dress so the red satin material wouldn't crease. The butterflies in her stomach were beginning to settle again, and she felt her lips curve into a small, slightly embarrassed smile. If that was her reaction just to the doorbell ringing, how on earth would she cope when Teddy actually arrived at the house?

Barely having time to contemplate this thought, Victoire leapt to her feet as the doorbell rang again, and took a few cautious steps down so she could see her father standing and leaving the living room to answer the door.

Again, her stomach churned at the sound of the door opening, not settling until she heard exclamations of, "Percy, Audrey – it's great to see you both! And Molly, gosh, you've gotten so tall since I last saw you, how old are you now? Nineteen?"

There was the sound of laughter and more coats and scarves being discarded, then Ron, Hermione and Fleur all stood to greet the new arrivals, exchanging many hugs and kisses and compliments of hair and dresses and robes. Victoire watched with a smile as little Molly clutched the hand of her few-months-pregnant mother, shaking her head shyly at the offer to join her other cousins "wherever they've run off to".

Once again, the adults (now joined by Molly) settled down on the seats in the living room, continuing their conversations as if there had been no interruption, Percy and Audrey somehow managing to seamlessly include themselves in the talk in a way that utterly baffled Victoire. With another sigh, she sat back down on the stairs, listening hard to see if she could catch any noises from the snowball fight that must have begun outside, the one that the small part of her mind that wasn't taken up with worrying about what she'd do when Teddy arrived wished she was out there participating in.

Then, after only a few minutes, the doorbell rang for a third time and, for a third time, the butterflies started up in Victoire's stomach, pounding impossibly harder than before against her insides. For a third time she stood, and for a third time Bill disappeared from sight and went to answer to door.

"Angelina! Mum, Dad – come in, take your coats off, you shouldn't have to stand out there in the cold! And where are George and little Freddie and Roxanne? Or should I not ask?"

It was all too much, Victoire decided as once more the butterflies slowly faded and she collapsed back onto the stairs. Why did she have to have _such_ a big family? What with Charlie's impending arrival, there was still a 50/50 chance that Teddy wouldn't be the next one to arrive, and then there was the possibility that he'd arrive separate to the Potters. After all, he'd finished school, hadn't he? There was nothing stopping him from Apparating to their doorstep all on his own, or even sneaking in unannounced through the back door. And with every arrival that wasn't his, the chances of his finger being the next to ring the doorbell was increasingly exponentially.

"What are you doing, hiding out here?"

Victoire jumped at the sound of Audrey's voice, quickly stumbling to her feet, steadying herself on the bannister as she tried not trip on the stairs.

"I'm, um..." Racking her brains for an excuse, Victoire suddenly noticed that the sound of the snowball fight in the backyard had amplified, signalling the arrival of her uncle George on the scene.

"Taking a break from all the action?" Audrey suggested, smiling.

"Something like that."

Audrey nodded, accepting the comment, and turned to continue along the hall. As Victoire watched her go into the downstairs bathroom, a sudden wave of affection for the woman washed through her. It was nice to have someone who didn't ask questions and make assumptions, someone who just allowed Victoire to have her little anxiety attack and didn't feel the need to try and comfort or reassure her, just leaving her to calm herself down.

Not that the 'calming herself down' thing was working very well. The doorbell rang for a fourth time and Victoire was woken from her reverie, this time making it all the way to bottom of the stairs and hovering by the living room door, forgetting her desire to stay out of sight in her moment of needing to find out who had arrived this time.

"I'll get it," Grandpa Arthur offered, and he quickly strode out of the room, leaving the others to keep up their conversations.

"Victoire! What are you doing there? Why don't you come in and say hello to everyone?"

Cursing herself for letting her father catch sight of her, Victoire obediently did a lap of the already crowded room, settling herself on the arm of the couch next to her grandma.

"You're looking very pretty," Granny Molly told her. "That dress is beautiful. Your aunt Gabrielle's choosing, I suppose?"

Victoire nodded, "Yes, she sent Dom and I each a dress from France just the other day, and Mum insisted that we wear them for Christmas. They're Christmas colours, see? Mine's red and Dom's is green."

"Well, we'll have to make sure we send her a photo of the two of you looking so lovely."

"I'm sure Mum won't forget."

Molly was distracted from the conversation as Charlie entered the room, surrounded by the small crowd of Potter children, who each permitted a brief hug from their grandmother and waves to the others before sprinting outside to join the other kids, Lily stopping for a moment to convince young Molly to come with her, who willing took her cousin's hand and followed the boys out of the room.

The arrival of Harry, Ginny and Charlie had meant the living room was now full to bursting point, as everyone jostled for a seat and Victoire was shunted to a perch on the edge of the coffee table, giving up her place on the arm of the couch to George, who had finally come in from outside, predictably soaking wet and leaving a trail of melted snow from the back door.

As the noise of conversation reached a deafening volume, Victoire caught her mother's eyes, noticing the pointed glances towards the watery footprints that George had left in the hall. Getting the message, Victoire stood and wove her way out of the room, fetching a doormat from the laundry and laying that just inside the door, then returning for a towel to try and soak up the mess that had already been made.

Victoire had just finished mopping up her uncle's footprints when the doorbell rang again and, knowing that no one in the living room would've been able to hear it over the noise, she went absent-mindedly to answer it, not realising until the moment after she'd pulled the door open that there was only one person left to arrive.

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**Review? The next chapter will be up in a couple of hours (seeing as it's currently 3:40am here, and I plan to sleep, wake up and post at around 10am) redgardless, but still, rveiews are nice. They're like candycanes. This story is like a Christmas tree. You must put candycanes on the tree for them to be truly enjoyed :)**


	2. Cousins

**Um... wow! I SO did not expect such a huge response to this - it was totally worth staying up until 4am to write it!**

**So now - after a pleasant 5hr sleep (seriously, the things I do for you people!), and half an hour earlier than I promised - here is chapter two. Enjoy!**

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Teddy Lupin stood the threshold of Shell Cottage, his bright blue hair contrasting violently with the snowy landscape behind him. He wore a dark cloak fastened up to his chin and a scarf under that, covering the slight bit of neck that would have been visible over the collar of the cloak. In his arms was a stack of colourfully-wrapped presents, and it appeared that he'd gotten something for every one of the Weasley/Potter kids, as well as a few gifts with slightly less exuberantly-coloured wrapping paper for the adults.

"Hey, Victoire," he said, his voice a little breathless.

"Hi," she managed to respond, surprised that her frazzled mind had been able to get even that single word out.

"You look... good."

"Thanks. You too."

In truth, she couldn't really see much of him other than his face and neck, as the rest of his body was blocked by the leaning tower of presents, but Victoire was willing to bet that the rest of him would look just as great as always. If only he'd take that ugly great cloak off...

"Um, come in," she offered, realising that she was still blocking the door and quickly moving aside, giving him room to come inside.

Victoire quickly busied herself with shutting the door behind Teddy, keeping her back to him as he struggled to free himself from his cloak and scarf without dropping the precariously stacked presents. Finding that closing a door could only be drawn out for so long, Victoire stayed facing away as she listened to the sounds of Teddy only a few inches behind her, the two of them taking up most of the space in narrow entrance hall of the house.

"Uh, Vic? Could you help me with this?"

Teddy was stuck with one arm awkwardly half out of his cloak, the presents now wedged between his other arm and the wall as he attempted to keep hold of them all while removing his outer layers of clothing. Spinning round and immediately noticing his dilemma, Victoire swiftly helped him free his arm, grabbing the presents from him so he could take off the rest of his cloak and his scarf, hanging both items on the overflowing hooks along the wall.

"Thanks," he muttered, taking back the pile of gifts.

As he was gathering the last of the presents from Victoire's arms, his hand accidentally touched hers, and the feeling of skin on skin brought back the vivid memories of that day in September, and how the two of them had held each other, hidden behind the steam from the Hogwarts Express. The feel of those same hands of his around her waist and in her hair: gripping her and pulling her body against his, fingering the bottom of her shirt and slipping his fingertips under the material to stroke her stomach, sliding up her neck and burying in her silvery locks, tugging, teasing, caressing her as if they had forever to enjoy that single, blissful moment...

But then he pulled his hands away and cleared his throat noisily, and she bit her lip, looking away as if distracted by the noise from the living room.

_Bloody hell_.

Victoire closed her eyes and forced herself to inhale deeply, trying to slow her racing heart. _It's just Teddy_, she told herself, _just Teddy Lupin_.

"You okay?" he asked, and as Victoire opened her eyes to nod with much more certainty than she felt, it was simply impossible to think of him as _just Teddy Lupin_.

"Let's go," she said, careful not to let her body touch his as she moved passed him to lead the way into the living room.

Teddy's arrival was greeted with all the usual exuberance, and Victoire was glad for the distance that was made between them as he went around the room grasping hands and kissing cheeks. She caught her mother's eye again and was grateful to follow the implied bid to re-stack the growing mound of presents under the tree, busying herself for a good few minutes with the simple, mindless task of organising.

Once that was done, Victoire took her previous spot on the corner of the coffee table, noticing that Teddy had somehow managed to find a space on one of the couches, where he was squashed cosily between Ginny and George, already chatting easily with them about one of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes latest products. Helping herself to her mother's delicious pastries, Victoire slowly relaxed, finally taking up a conversation with Audrey who, despite never indicating it in any way, Victoire was convinced knew exactly why she'd been hiding out on the stairs earlier.

After what felt like no time at all, the cousins began to arrive from outside, predictably soaked and shivering, but with wide smiles on their faces. The exception to this was, of course, Dominique who, true to her promise to her mother, had managed not to get a single spot of snow on her new green dress. Fred and Roxanne were looking especially soaked, but Victoire had a sneaking suspicion that much of that was probably caused by their father, long before the cousins had started their barrage of snowballs.

With the children's arrival, some sort of cue to jump into action seemed to have been given, and the Weasley men (plus Ginny, Harry and Hermione, who seemed utterly incapable of missing the excitement) went outside to set up the tables and marquee, as there was no space big enough for the whole family to eat inside. Victoire was charged with the job of drying off the kids, and she led the dripping mob into the entrance hall to pick up their coats, where Rose was entrusted to keep watch while Victoire went to fetch towels from the laundry.

Not bothering to turn on the light, Victoire stepped into the laundry and promptly bumped into Teddy, who was leaving the room, his arms already piled with towels that he'd obviously pre-meditated the need for and gone to get.

"Sorry," Victoire apologised automatically, blushing when she'd stepped back into the hallway and realised who it was she'd bumped into. "And thanks," she added, motioning to the towels, "I was just going to get those."

"Yeah, I figured," Teddy said, his amber eyes fixed at a point somewhere over Victoire's shoulder, as if he, too, was highly conscious of the awkwardness between them.

The two stood in silent discomfort for a few more seconds that seemed to stretch out into weeks, until Louis's voice called, "Vic! Where are the towels?" and they both quickly hurried to answer the summon, halving the pile and dealing the towels out without as much as a glance at one another.

Once the cousins had been dried and the table had been set, the Weasley clan finally gathered in the curious warmth of the marquee that Hermione had magically erected, taking seats around the huge table to allow best access to their favourite dishes. Massive plates of turkey, roast potatoes and scrumptious-smelling pies were passed around the table, as well as liberal amounts of butterbeer for the adults and pumpkin juice for the youngsters. When everyone reached the point where they thought they couldn't possibly eat any more, a desert of one of Granny Molly's famous cakes was produced, along with a sweet pudding-type dish that Charlie had brought back from Romania, and suddenly everyone found more room to wolf down at least a few bites more.

At one stage during the smorgasbord, Dominique had leaned over to Victoire and whispered, her tone teasing, "See Vic, even now he still can't stop lusting- I mean _looking_ at you!"

Victoire shot her sister a look, but couldn't help glancing at Teddy from the corner of her eye as she turned back to continue her conversation with Harry. With satisfied little flip somewhere near her navel, Victoire caught sight of the flash of amber eyes from across the table, and couldn't manage to explain away the blush that had suddenly sprung into her cheeks.

Sometime later, when little Molly had curled up on her father's lap and fallen asleep and Hugo, Fred and Louis's eyes were looking a little droopy, Teddy abruptly stood, ending his conversation with James and Albus and excusing himself from his spot. Victoire pretended not to notice as he walked around the table, but could no longer ignore him as he approached her, his gaze very clearly singling her out. It might have been her imagination, but Victoire thought it seemed as if the noise at the table dulled significantly as Teddy reached her side, ducking down to whisper, "Come with me?" in her ear.

Slowly, she nodded, standing and leaving her napkin on her empty plate. She pushed her chair in as she left, and again imagined that more than one pair of eyes was following her as she and Teddy disappeared into the house, his fingers brushing briefly against hers, sending a spark of fire tingling up her arm and through her body.

The noise from outside faded as Victoire followed Teddy along the hall to the bottom of the stairs. He stopped there and turned to face her, leaning against the banister and crossing his arms over her chest.

All of sudden, Victoire was struck by just how big Teddy was, or more particularly, how much bigger than her he was. Usually when she was with him he was crouching down, playing with the cousins, or sitting down with the adults. Never before had it struck her that he was, in fact, an adult male of almost nineteen: tall, broad-shouldered and obviously much larger than a slim, almost-seventeen year-old girl.

"I wanted to talk to you," Teddy began, and Victoire was relieved to hear his nervous tone. "Alone. But I wasn't really sure... how." His eyes that had, once again, been carefully avoiding hers, darted to meet her gaze for a second. "And then you were sort of... short... with me earlier, and I thought that maybe you didn't want to talk."

Victoire's heart stutterred uncomfortably at these words, and immediately her mind jumped back to those couple of minutes in the entrance hall. Had she seemed short with him? She hadn't meant to be, but she'd been so anxious, what with the hammering heart and sweaty palms and sudden desire to bite her nails. Perhaps she had seemed a bit rushed, a bit uninterested.

"No!" She defended quickly. "Or, if I was short with you, I didn't mean to be. I was just, well, nervous, you know?"

Teddy exhaled, and Victoire realised that, like her, his cheeks were red, and he'd uncrossed his arms to wring his hands distractedly.

"Sorry," she added lamely. "I didn't mean to seem rude."

"It's okay," Teddy said. "I guess I was kind of nervous, too." He paused, and again his eyes darted to hers and away again. "I mean, we haven't seen each other in... a while. Not since-"

For the third time, his eyes met hers, and he licked his lips, seeming impossibly tense and uncomfortable with the situation. Victoire watched his tongue dart out of his mouth with a sort of fascination, unable to stop the memory coming back again: his mouth soft and gentle against hers, and then the shocking feel of his tongue, barely tickling her as he traced her lips...

"Yeah," she agreed. "Not since..."

The sound of lots of scraping chairs made both of them glance towards the door at the end of the hall, where her family would undoubtedly be coming inside in just a few minutes, ready to gather in the living room and open all their presents.

"We don't have much time alone, do we?" Teddy asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Nope. But you never do get much time to yourself, being related to this lot. Just ask Aunt Ginny. She has great stories about Ron walking in on her and Harry-"

Victoire broke off, distracted by the way Teddy's eyes seemed to have fixed on hers, as if they were boring into them, digging past the outside to see what was behind it all. Did he like what he saw?

"What?" Victoire prompted, when Teddy's intense gaze refused to give up.

"You're- you're beautiful," he murmured, his stare finally withdrawing a little as he moved the slightest bit closer. "That's what I meant to say to you earlier, first thing when I saw you. I said you looked good, but that's not what I meant. I meant you looked beautiful. You always do."

Somewhere inside her, a large proportion of Victoire melted at the words, and she felt an embarrassingly soppy smile float onto her face. Yet somehow, she couldn't quite be bothered to care. _Teddy Lupin had just said she looked beautiful – she _always_ looked beautiful_.

"I want you to kiss me again," Victoire blurted out, before she could stop herself.

Teddy grinned. "I want to kiss you."

Victoire's heart seemed to be eager to be noticed again, and insisted on pounding against her ribcage like a jackhammer as the butterflies erupted once again in her stomach, worse than ever. "Then you should."

"Okay."

There was very little that Victoire was aware of in that moment other than Teddy and the way his face descended towards hers, never seeming to reach it because she closed her eyes before he was too close. She could feel his hands on her waist again, pulling her body closer to his as if he couldn't tolerate even the slightest breath of air being able to squeeze between them. She wasn't conscious of moving them, but at the same moment she felt her arms encircle Teddy's neck, her hands sliding up to grip his hair as his lips landed on hers, and the same blissful feeling of actually kissing Teddy Lupin surrounded her.

The first kiss was soft and sweet, but it seemed to somehow liberate them from the awkwardness and anxiousness and nervousness of before. Quite suddenly, his grip on her waist had tightened and Victoire felt her feet leave the ground for a prolonged moment as he pulled her up to be even closer, his tongue diving into her mouth eagerly, as if he'd been imagining this moment all afternoon, waiting for the opportunity to relive that far-too-brief minute of paradise from three months ago.

In the back of her mind, Victoire was vaguely aware of the sounds of her family amplifying, as if a door had been opened, allowing their voices to reach her ears more easily, but she disregarded this errant thought, much too caught up in the exciting new act of running her hands over the chest of Teddy Lupin, letting her mind spin delightful idea of what his robes might hide.

Eventually, of course, the kiss had to end, and slowly, reluctantly, Teddy pulled away, his hands settling on her hips as if they were meant to be there. Victoire was grinning widely, unable to contain her joy at what had just happened. Teddy grinned back down at her, leaning in to quickly peck her lips once more.

"Is there anything about you that isn't sensational?" Teddy asked, his tone almost disbelieving.

Victoire blushed and shook her head, inhaling sharply as he moved one hand up to brush over her cheek, his fingertips barely touching her burning skin.

"Figures," Teddy muttered, his fingers now trailing down her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

"Oh, well, there's one thing," Victoire offered, "I'm not very good at Charms. Flitwick used to say my Charms work 'left much to be desired'."

Teddy laughed. "I wouldn't worry," he said. "You seemed perfectly charming to me."

"Thank you."

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Audrey Weasley pretended not to notice the two figures wrapped securely around each other by the side of the hall as she opened the door to quickly glance inside and check if the coast was clear.

"Can we go in yet?" James Potter asked, bobbing on the spot impatiently. "I need to pee!"

There was a ripple of laughter among the younger kids and George, and Angelina rolled her eyes at her husband's immaturity.

"Not yet," Audrey said. "They're still talking."

But she couldn't quite manage to hold back a smile as she said it.

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**"What else does a Christmas Tree need?" You ask. "I already put a candy cane on it."**

**But what about baubles? No good Christmas Tree is complete without Christmas baubles.**

**And then there's tinsel and lights and fake snow, which although not necessary, are highly appreciated!**

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	3. Special Cuddles

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**The end is nigh! Actually, it's right here. But anyway...**

**Merry Christmas everyone - this is the only Christmas present I'm able to give you, and I've lost the reciept, so bad luck if you want a refund!**

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The Weasley/Potter clan was crowded into the cosy living room of Shell Cottage. The floor was littered with the scraps of wrapping paper that hadn't been gathered up to be used in the construction of Rose, Roxanne and Lily's 'Paper Castle', which now was more of a nest in which the three girls were lying, little Molly curled up between them, all four fast asleep. Hugo, Albus, Fred and Louis were in a similar state, spread over one of the couches: their mouths hanging open as they quietly snored. In fact, the only remaining awake cousins were Dominique and James, who were conspiring in a corner with George, who was grinning far too widely for Ginny, Harry, Bill and Fleur to be entirely comfortable with the arrangement.

Arthur and Molly had already left, Charlie accompanying them home as it started to get dark outside. Ron and Hermione were sitting together on an armchair, both looking almost as tired as their children and exchanging quiet words, smiling in that lovey-dovey way that made anyone watching absolutely positive that they didn't want to hear whatever they were talking about. Ginny, Harry and Audrey were on the other couch, Audrey silent, watching her daughter sleep, both hands curled protectively around her pregnant belly. Ginny's head was resting on Harry's shoulder, her hands playing with his as he chatted to Percy, who was sitting on a chair next to the couch. Angelina was nearest the Christmas tree, talking to Bill and Fleur, both of whom kept shooting nervous glances at George, trying to catch what he was saying to Dominique.

And on the floor, his back against the wall, Teddy sat, Victoire between his legs, leaning against his chest. One of her hands was clasped in one of his, the other fiddling with a loose thread on his trousers. His spare arm was around her waist, his fingers absent-mindedly stroking her stomach through her red satin dress, his head resting on top of hers, occasionally moving to press a kiss to her hair, her temple, her shoulder, always marvelling at how natural the action felt.

Victoire sighed, utterly content, and twisted her head around to look up at Teddy. His expression was hard, his eyebrows contracted into almost a frown and his jaw set, as if he were concentrating on something complex.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Victoire asked, wriggling her fingers in the hand that held his to get Teddy's attention.

Immediately, his expression softened and he lifted her hand to brush it briefly against his lips.

"I was just thinking about these holidays, and how it's not really that long until you'll be going back to Hogwarts."

Victoire made a small sound, almost a groan, and sat up a little so she could look Teddy properly in the eyes.

"We have another two weeks, Teddy. And I only have half a year of Hogwarts left. Surely we can cope with that?"

"Half a year? That's six months, Vic. I don't know if I could cope without this-" he leaned in close, his lips barely a hair's breadth away from hers "-for _six months_."

The feel of his lips so impossibly close to hers made Victoire shiver, and she quickly closed the distance, kissing him sweetly, wondering how she could possibly have been so nervous about this just a few hours ago. It seemed so natural now: him, her, _them_. She could hardly even remember what it felt like not to be with him.

"It'll fly by," she promised, knowing the words were empty. Already she could sense how the days would drag, each one slower than the next as the time when she could finally be with Teddy – Teddy exclusively, with no distractions – slowly approached. "Besides," she added, "We still have New Year's to spend together."

Teddy smiled, kissing her quickly once more before settling back against the wall. For a moment, Victoire thought she saw her father's gaze in her peripheral vision, watching her and Teddy's actions, his eyes sharp and stern, suddenly protective of his little girl now that she'd found a new main man. Subtly, feeling foolishly paranoid, she glanced at him, but he seemed caught up in conversation with Angelina, and she convinced herself that she had imagined the moment.

"Do you know what your New Year's resolution is going to be?" Victoire asked after a few minutes of silence. "Mine will probably be something to do with NEWTs. To survive through them, get decent marks. I still don't know what I want to do after school, but I suppose if I get good enough-"

"Tell the girl of my dreams that I love her."

"-marks, anything's possible... Wait, what?" Victoire was convinced she'd misheard him, imagiend the quiet words slipping from Teddy's mouth.

After all, they had only kissed a few hours ago. She'd never taken Teddy for the kind of guy who goes throwing around big words like _fate_ and _destiny_ and _love_, but maybe she was wrong. Surely, he didn't think that, just from spending a few hours together, that meant they were in love?

Behind her, Teddy shrugged. "I've sort of been mulling that resolution over for a few years now, wondering when it'd be the best time to say it. I figured it'd worry her (the girl of my dreams) if I just randomly told her one New Year's, with no pre-amble or anything. But this year... I kind of get the feeling this time might be the right time to tell her."

"To tell the girl of your dreams that you love her?"

"And that I have for a while now. I just didn't really know how to show her before now. Or before September, if you want to get fussy with dates."

"Oh."

Victoire exhaled, somewhat overwhelmed. Could it just have been this morning that she was worrying about how to do her hair? It felt like so long ago, back when kissing Teddy Lupin had just been a distant memory, a vague recollection of a moment of bliss that she was much too nervous to ever attempt to experience again. Back when the idea of Teddy Lupin lusting after her for years had seemed utterly absurd.

"But your resolution is going to be to do with your NEWTs? That's probably a good idea. Much more practical than my one."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I don't really know-" Victoire could hear her voice and how flustered it sounded, but couldn't quite manage to be embarrassed, her mind so busy swimming with the enormousness of Teddy's announcement.

The guy had basically just told her loved her, for Merlin's sake! She was just getting used to the idea of being able to hold his hand or kiss him when she wanted – weren't things like _I love you_'s supposed to be ages away? As far as she could tell, she had very good reason to be flustered!

"Relax, Vic." Teddy soothed, a hint of laughter in his tone. "My New Year's resolution - the thing I'm 'resolving' to do at some stage _next year _- is to tell the girl of my dreams that I love her. That means it'll happen sometime in the next twelve months, probably after her and I have spent a bit more time together, and of course once she's finished her NEWTs (and done amazingly in them, of course). You have ages before you have to start worrying about this."

"Right. Sure."

Teddy laughed, kissing Victoire's temple in an attempt to help her relax. It seemed to help a little, and she leaned back into him a bit, but he could imagine she was still silently going crazy over his little confession.

Looking around the room, he took in all the people around him: his unofficial family. Would they be his official family one day? Would he stand in a church or in a park or on a beach and vow to love Victoire Weasley for eternity? Right now, the idea seemed utterly absurd. The beautiful girl on his lap wasn't even of age yet! How on earth could marriage be anywhere in the foreseeable future?

Finishing his scan of the room, his eyes landed on Dominique, who was watching him and Victoire, her expression full of quiet pride and radiating smugness. Teddy tilted his head at her questioningly, and swiftly she stood, walking over to them. Victoire moved uncomfortably in Teddy's lap, sitting up a little straighter.

Prsently, Dom had reached their side, and she stood over them, the smugness now so apparent that it practically oozed from her skin.

"Told you so," she said to Victoire in a hushed voice. "He _has _been lusting after you for years!"

* * *

**Good? Bad? Interesting?**

**Thank you all for decorating my story tree - the baubles, tinsel, candy canes and fake snow look absolutely amazing!**

**Still, one thing seems to be missing... oh, right: PRESENTS! *hint hint* ...I wish I had some to put under the tree, I just know it would make the whole thing perfect!**

**Reviews = joy :)**

**Merry Christmas!**


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